Classic & Vintage - Pelizzoli Bike Frame

Hi!

New to forum, but want some info on a bike I bought second hand several years ago. It is inscribed with "Pelizzoli" on the frame. It is a great light weight frame and I like the bike. My dilemma is whether to keep it and upgrade or to replace with a newer bike. Appreciate any thoughts. Thanks

Added some pics - bike needs a good overhaul but still seems to be a great bike.

Sounds like a Ciöcc. I love mine. Got pics?

I'll have a look. So worth upgrading?

Hard to know without seeing pictures. Post some pics and you'll have lots of people here weighing in on the subject.

Please post pictures, especially of the lugs, fork crown, head badge, bottom braket shell, and dropouts. Not only will it help us give you an answer but we like to ogle vintage bikes/frames. I believe Pelizzoli apprenticed with the famed framebuilder Ugo De Rosa, so unless there are significant problems with the frame it is very likely worth keeping (or letting another forum member take off your hands - :)).

Added a few others were too large - does this shed any light on this bike?

Added a few others were too large - does this shed any light on this bike?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJHwPqn2jY0


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJHwPqn2jY0

Looks like there may be some history to this bike?

I was wrong. That's obviously not a Ciöcc. Pelizzoli is not a brand with which I am familiar. But I see they have a web site: http://pelizzoligion.it/index.swf

Rather than attaching smaller pics, you might consider uploading them to a free image hosting site like Flickr or Photobucket and then embedding a link to each in this thread.

Gorgeous bike. I like the way the lines flow from the fork crowns & someone took their time with those stays. Paint, if original, has held up well for an old Italian frame.

One more photo of the full bike from the drive side please?

I was wrong. That's obviously not a Ciöcc. Pelizzoli is not a brand with which I am familiar. But I see they have a web site: http://pelizzoligion.it/index.swf



On the contrary: it's a Ciocc by another name, in this case it may be an early frame before he decided to go with his nickname...and obviously before he sold the name Ciocc and went back to his given name Giovanni Pelizzoli. Another interesting bit is the Guerciotti engraved seatpost: I'd heard there is some connection (maybe just proximity) between the 2 (or 3) brands. Maybe it's just a coincidence that that post is in this frame, but maybe not. In any case it's a very interesting, and rare, Italian frame...deserves the best care and feeding.

On the contrary: it's a Ciocc by another name, in this case it may be an early frame before he decided to go with his nickname...and obviously before he sold the name Ciocc and went back to his given name Giovanni Pelizzoli. Another interesting bit is the Guerciotti engraved seatpost: I'd heard there is some connection (maybe just proximity) between the 2 (or 3) brands. Maybe it's just a coincidence that that post is in this frame, but maybe not. In any case it's a very interesting, and rare, Italian frame...deserves the best care and feeding.
Is it related to the Pelizzoli marque whose URL I included?

On the contrary: it's a Ciocc by another name, in this case it may be an early frame before he decided to go with his nickname.

The early Ciocc San Cristobal's that came into the US (I owned one) were definitely older than the OP's bike, judging by the frame details.
While that frame is nice enough, it also lacks the coolest feature of the earlier Ciocc frames - in particular the San Cristobal and some Mockba 80's - which is the very skinny lugs with the teardrop points that took a lot of care to braze properly.

good points^ I actually have an early San Cristobal frame right here and the brake bridge is one of the the Gipiemme jobs that I think predate the sytle of the one on the OP's bike, plus there's the obviously plainer lugs on the OP's compared to the "pintail" Ciocc lugs (yes, they are beautiful). Maybe this is something Giovanni had built under contract (by a Guerciotti builder?) as a second brand. The thing is: I doubt there was another bike builder named G. Pelizzoli in Italy, so it has to have some connection to "Mr. Ciocc" somehow. Maybe our American racer who shot the videos of him can ask him about this one. Sure would be nice to see more pics of the OP's...not much there in those 4 to study.
Of course, the obvious point along the timeline is that this is one of the first he built after selling off the rights to the Ciocc name...

good points^ I actually have an early San Cristobal frame right here and the brake bridge is one of the the Gipiemme jobs that I think predate the sytle of the one on the OP's bike, plus there's the obviously plainer lugs on the OP's compared to the "pintail" Ciocc lugs (yes, they are beautiful). Maybe this is something Giovanni had built under contract (by a Guerciotti builder?) as a second brand. The thing is: I doubt there was another bike builder named G. Pelizzoli in Italy, so it has to have some connection to "Mr. Ciocc" somehow. Maybe our American racer who shot the videos of him can ask him about this one. Sure would be nice to see more pics of the OP's...not much there in those 4 to study.
Of course, the obvious point along the timeline is that this is one of the first he built after selling off the rights to the Ciocc name...

The early San Cristobals also had clamp-on front derailleurs. Also, the Ciocc logo did not have the Cinelli-type "flying C" used on the later graphics, though this is not relevant to the OP's bike obviously.

The early San Cristobals also had clamp-on front derailleurs. Also, the Ciocc logo did not have the Cinelli-type "flying C" used on the later graphics, though this is not relevant to the OP's bike obviously.

All true, and that's consistent with my San Cristobal, when I get it built I'll have to post some pics and a riding review as it compares to my much later (late '80s-early '90s) Ciocc. Trouble is it's not a beauty cause the paint and chrome was so poor it required a complete blast and I went 'cheap and practical' and had it powder-coated. Won't affect the ride, however.
But I say the late cap "C" is not winged like the Cinelli: it's a dead-ringer for the Cincinnati Red's "C".:D
Another detail for the Ciocc trivia fans: in one of the videos of the Nervex-lugged frame where Giovanni is replacing the tube: that very early Ciocc font is different again from the San Cristobal font, I think it was sans-serif, but I don't trust my memory.
Well, went back to the one video but can't find the second one, and the Nervex-lugged frame has a serif font pretty much identical to my SC...so that's not where I saw it, but I swear I did see it. And, if anybody has a genuine Ciocc SC and wants some homebrew water-slide decals: PM me.

Or, it could be after Giovanni Pelizzoli sold the Ciocc brand and wasn't allowed to use the Ciocc name anymore. This bike reminded me of another thread I read recently on bf: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?671664

PS I'd keep it.

All true, and that's consistent with my San Cristobal, when I get it built I'll have to post some pics and a riding review as it compares to my much later (late '80s-early '90s) Ciocc.

Another thing to look for is that the earlier fork crown stamping formed the card suit characters by removing material from around them - i.e. the heart, diamond, etc. are convex. On the later crowns they're formed by a stamped concave outline.

Another interesting bit is the Guerciotti engraved seatpost: I'd heard there is some connection (maybe just proximity) between the 2 (or 3) brands. Maybe it's just a coincidence that that post is in this frame, but maybe not. .

Guerciotti and Ciocc were the main brands of 10-speed drive imports for quite a while... lots of Googleable info on that company.

Also, the San Cristobal name was used on a lower-end model by 1984 (mine - straight gauge Aelle tubing)

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hSZo5vjiPmQ/TGTop_ml_7I/AAAAAAAAJnA/5CdF2rQ-Lw8/s640/Criterium%202.JPG

Guerciotti and Ciocc were the main brands of 10-speed drive imports for quite a while... lots of Googleable info on that company.


My San Cristobal had the TSD logo stamped into the rear brake bridge block, making me suspect they also painted it.